Tah Prohm Temple - Proof that dinosaurs lived with man?

One of the interesting side effects of writing to dozens of organisations for my survey is corresponding with people who I would probably have never done so otherwise.

One such person is Dave Prentice from Origins Resource Association , a Christian Creationist group.

Now I will lay my cards on the table and admit that I am an athiest, and have no belief in a supreme deity. Although at times, I am often finding myself wondering about the existence of that great fortean god, the Cosmic Joker. However someones religious beliefs should not get in the way of research, and all evidence should be viewed and investigated no matter where it comes from.

Now I'm sure that most people reading this article will have seen the carving of a "stegosaurus" on a ancient Cambodian temple. Putting the creationist angle to one side, one thing that can't be denied is that there is a strange looking creature carved on one of the columns.

Dave has visited this site himself, and sent me some of the pictures he took. Some of these pictures have angles on the carving that will not have been seen online before, and are well worth looking at. Hence the reason for this article.

It should be noted that Dave has given permission for these pictures to be posted and the copyright remains with him, and as a matter of courtesy I suggest that if anyone wants to use these images themselves they should get in contact with him first.

Is it a stegosaurus though. Well if we are going to be anatomically correct no it is not. The head is too large, tail is too short, and the only superficial similarities are the "plates" on its back

So what sort of animal is the carving of? Is it genuine or a hoax?

I have my thoughts, but before I post them, I'd be interested to hear the views and theories of other people.

Cryptozoological Survey - An Update

Some interesting things have already started to fall in place as the replies start coming in.

Cryptozoological Survey - Just where does your money go?

Ignoring the abusive emails I've recieved from a couple of organisations, who will remain nameless at present. The people who have replied the quickest are the small groups, with just a few members. These are the ones who pay for everything themselves. They spend huge amounts of their time and their money on research. They have little time for media appearances or for writing books. They just wish to get on with their research with as little fuss as possible.

I wish all these people, every success in the future. And it is my honest belief that if Bigfoot is ever proved to exist, (and I'm definitely a fence sitter on Bigfoots existance), it will be done by a group of people like these, and certainly not by one of the bigger or more media savvy organisations. The same thing will be true for those organisations searching for other cyptids as well.


I had a gut feeling how this survey would pan out, and it is certainly going that way. But I will continue to send out the survey, and people will be able to make their own minds up on the information gathered.

I've nearly got the full set

Just a bit of fun.

This is a new blog and my first effort in creating one.

One thing that has surprised me is the number of people from around the world who for whatever reason, have decided to spend a few minutes taking time out of their day to read the things I've written.

This blog has only been around for a couple of weeks and hardly registered on google and yet I've managed to rack up readers from 16 different countries.

In the US alone, people from 34 different States have clicked onto my blog. So I've only got 16 to go to get the full set.

So if anyone has any friends or relations in the following US States, let them know of my blog and lets see how long it is before all 50 States are represented.

•Alaska
•Arkansas
•Connecticut
•Delaware
•Hawaii
•Idaho
•Kansas
•Louisiana
•Maine
•Montana
•North Dakota
•Oklahoma
•Rhode Island
•South Dakota
•Vermont
•Wyoming

I think Rhode Island may be the hardest to achieve.

NEWS FLASH

I've now got Kansas and Louisiana - thanks to whoever you are.

Monster Quest, The Werewolf and the Raven

In a previous post regarding the last ever episode of Monster Quest, "Monster Quest and The Werewolf" I made the following comment.

And finally, is it just me, but did anyone else think that playing tapes of wolf howls in the middle of the night in some back wood in the middle of nowhere was not a very sensible thing to do. If there were wolves in the area, and they had heard those tapes, those wolves would have immediately thought that a rival pack was in the area, and would have investigated. Possibly creating a very dangerous situation.

I contacted Raven Meindel, the female investigator featured in the Monster Quest Episode, to ask about this.


Raven Meindel

Hi Raven,...........................one question for you regarding the part in the woods when you were playing recordings of wolf howls. I just wondered if it was a little reckless, seeing that if a pack of wolves were in the area, they may have construed the sounds as a rival pack, and may have attacked believing they were defending their territory.

Was this brought up at the time, and were measures taken to prevent this.

Ms Meindel replied with the following,

To answer your question, we were always under the watchful eye of a professional animal locator/tracker that we trust completely. There was of course an element of danger on the expedition, but never any reckless or irresponsible behavior toward human OR animal.

Too many "investigators" blunder through woods and forests looking for their favourite cryptid, without thinking about the dangers they could possibly face. Not from the cryptids themselves but from other real flesh and blood critters that inhabit these regions. It's good to see that in this case, everyone behaved in a thoroughly professional manner.

The Orang Pendek. It looks like we are still waiting for the proof

As most followers of cryptozoological stories will know, Adam Davies took a four man team, including a couple of Centre for Fortean Zoology members, to Sumatra last September to look for the elusive Orang Pendek.

CFZ Sumatra 2009



A creature that most cryptozoologists believe to have the most chance of existing of all the cryptids being searched for.

It is well documented that Dave Archer and local guide Sahar believe they saw the Orang Pendek, it is also well documented that no pictures were taken. However they did find samples of hair, and collected the piece of rattan vine that the animal had been chewing, all in the hope of getting dna of the creature.

Unfortunately but not surprisingly, it appears that experts have been unable to extract any dna from either the hair or the rattan vine. Whatever people think of these type of expeditions, (are they big boys adventure trips or serious scientific efforts), I'm sure everyone had their fingers crossed that some evidence could be found. Sadly in this case, it is not to be. Hopefully the next expedition, whoever it is, has more success.

It is now just left to see, if the CFZ after learning of the failure, send the worlds media a press release announcing the results, similar to the one they released after the expedtion returned announcing the find of hair and rattan vine.


For the record. The CFZ have been involved in twenty one (21) expeditions to various exotic locations worldwide, and I believe, (I'm sure they will correct me if I'm wrong), they have had a zero (0%) success rate in finding any evidence of the creatures they have been searching for.

Cryptozoological Survey - Just where does your money go?

Over the next few weeks and months, I'll be contacting as many cryptozoological organisations as I can find, with the following email.

I will continue to update the list of organisations contacted as the emails are sent. As the replies come in, (if the replies come in), I will also post the results in table form. It will be interesting to see which organisation are open with their finances, and which are very secretive about them.

At the end end of the survey, consumers will be able to make an informed choice before handing over their money to these organisations. If any orgsanisation is not mentioned, or if an organisation not mentioned wishes to take part in the survey, please contact me via email

To whom it may concern.

You may or may not know of my blog, http://cryptozoologythetruth.blogspot.com/. but part of my aims to to create some sort of transparency within the cryptozoological community.

I'm attempting to do a survey of various cryptozoological organisations, who solicite donations from the general public, to get some sort of breakdown of how these donations are spent.

The idea being, that people are given an informed choice, when donating to their favourite cryptozoological research organisation. After all, if you found that your donation was just funding someone's lifestyle and paying for holidays, instead of helping in valid research projects, I'm sure you would be very upset.

I will be publishing all results on my blog, without any alteration or comment, And also mentioning those that do not respond.

I am not interested in the amounts spent in actual dollars, pounds or euros, but as a percentage of your income. In fact I wouldn't expect you to release such confidential figures.

If you could answer the following questions, these will form the basis of the survey.

1. What percentage of your organisation's total income comes from.
a. Public Donations
b. Sponsorship
c. Media appearances
d. Books and other publications
e. Own finances
f. Other

2. Of your organisations total income, what percentage is spent on
a. Research Equipment
b. Office/Computer equipment
c. Website costs.
d. Field research
e. Wages/Salaries
f. Building costs, rent etc
g Travel costs


3. Is your organisation a registered charity?

yes/no

4. Do you publish yearly accounts, and if so do you publish them online


As you can see from the list of organisations I have sent this email to, I am aiming this to be a very thorough survey. If you know of any organisations I have missed, don't hesitate to get in contact and I will email them as well.

I thank you all in advance for taking the time to complete this survey.


The Highland Tiger

ORGANISATIONS CONTACTED AS OF 8th APRIL 2010

General Cryptozoogical Organisations

Centre For Fortean Zoology
Crypto Florida - Now Replied
Cryptomundo


Bigfoot / Yeti / Yowie / Wildman Organisations

Adirondack Bigfoot Club - Now Replied
Alabama Bigfoot Seekers Research Group
Alabama Bigfoot Research
Alliance of Independant Bigfoot Researchers
American Bigfoot Society
Arizona Bigfoot Center
Bigfoot Discovery Project - Now Replied
Bigfoot Encounters
Bigfoot Exterminators
Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
Bigfoot Research Network
Bigfoot Research Organization
Bigfoot Research Project Of Kentucky - Now Replied
Bluenorth.com
British Center for Bigfoot Research
Central Ohio Bigfoot Research
Eastern Ohio Bigfoot Investigation Center
Florida Skunk Ape
Georgia Bigfoot Society
Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Organization
High Desert Bigfoot Research
Hominoid Research Group
Kentucky Bigfoot
Kiamichi Bigfoot Research
Mid-America Bigfoot Research Center
Minnesota Bigfoot Research Team
North East Sasquatch Research Organisation - Now Replied
North East Washington Bigfoot Researchers Unlimited
Ohio Bigfoot Organization
Ohio / Pennsylvania Bigfoot Research Group
Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society
Project Bigfoot
Sasquatch Watch of Virginia - Now Replied
Sierra Tahoe Bigfoot Research - Now Replied
Southeast Kentucky Bigfoot Information Center
Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy
TexLa Cryptozoological Research Group
United Bigfoot Research Group
Virginia Bigfoot Research Organization - Now Replied

Sea / Lake Monster Organisations

Big Cat Organisations

Creationist / Living Dinosaur Organisations

Arizona Origins Science Assoc.
Center for Scientific Creation
Christian Answers
Origins Research Society - Now Replied
Van Andel Creation Research Center
Creation Safaris
Center for Creation Studies
Creation Research of the North Coast
Creation Science Assoc. of Orange County
Creation Science Research Center
Institute for Creation Research
South Bay Creation Science Assoc
Alpha Omega Institute
Creation Education Ministries
Creation Education Resources, Inc.
Creation Science Evangelism
Creation Ministries International
Creation Science Assoc. of Central Illinois
Midwest Creation Fellowship
Answers in Genesis





Please keep returning to this post to see which organisations have been contacted to date